Please be true.
For those who believe in ghosts and the supernatural, and those who so badly want to, it’s the unspoken prayer that follows any tantalizing tale of haunting: please, oh please be true.
Whether it’s Michael Jackson’s ghost appearing on national television or a creepy rumour about the old house at the end of the block, those who give credence to the paranormal desperately want such stories to be accurate.
And so it is with Calgary’s mysterious Devil’s Playground.
The alleged abandoned school site on the eastern edge of Calgary is ranked by some as one of the most haunted places in Canada.
And like most good ghost stories, it’s a chiller.
At some time in the past, a tragic fire in a school house just east of Calgary consumed most of the building, killing three children inside — and to this day, those who dare explore the ruins report the sounds of children laughing and playing.
It’s said that long after the children died, workers tried to tear down what remained of the school, but they fell ill — and when the City of Calgary sent a wrecking ball to bash the old school to the ground, the motor died, and then the ball fell off, so they gave up.
That about sums up the most common version of the story. And of course, a good haunting encourages people to go looking.
“I could have sworn to see a face in the boarded up windows, (We) BOTH heard an eerie creaking noise. Then the screams, walking back I thought it would be funny to scream and scare (him) so I did, following my scream was a shrill scream almost the scream of a woman,” reads one of many chatroom reports on the subject.
For Calgarians into ghost stories, Devil’s Playground has become something of a quest, made more mysterious by the vague and contradictory directions found online.
It’s a great way to spend a murky night, scouring the city’s outskirts for a ghostly school — unless of course, you’re a farmer or acreage owner sick of people trespassing on your property.
“They drive the farmers crazy,” said Dori Davidson-Revill.
For the past three years, Davidson-Revill and a group of paranormal girl detectives have made the legend of Devil’s Playground their pet project — and when it comes to the supernatural, the young crew are becoming old hands.
As investigators into ghosts, superstitions and so forth, the ParaShorts team has produced one full season of online episodes dealing with everything for ectoplasm to the electronic voice phenomena.
Now keen to uncover the truth behind one of Calgary’s most infamous hauntings in Season 2, the group is currently crowd-funding the final $4,000 needed to finish their documentary on the Devil’s Playground — and when it’s released next October, Davidson-Revill says the truth may finally be known.
“Our research has uncovered a lot through witness reports, online resources and news archives ranging from interesting to the absurd,” said Davidson-Revill.
“One story we came across was that Devil’s Playground was where they once hanged witches even though the witch trials never were in Calgary or Canada.”
The investigation took ParaShorts to various locations around Calgary, and to as far away as Texas, trying to find the facts behind the dark tale.
“The story originally is about an old school on the outskirts of the city burning down. How it burned down changes from lightning to a crazy demon worshipping nun. The number of children who die range from one to eight and the location keeps changing as the city grows,” said Davidson-Revill.
Of course, embellishment and misinformation are always a factor when it comes to ghost stories — and Calgary’s haunted schoolyard is no different.
But did ParaShorts find an answer, beyond the rumours and creepy contradictions?
“We think so. But we don’t want to give too much away,” he said.
To visit the ParaShorts website: www.parashorts.com/
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